Congress members seen partying during shutdown

WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- A week into the government shutdown, and still no end in sight.

However, according to some bartenders and service industry employees on Capitol Hill, that is not keeping members of Congress from having a good ole time.

"Storm", a bartender at the popular Hawk and Dove said, "I don't think the public would be happy to know that they are actually enjoying this time."

According to him, lawmakers have been coming by all week and cutting loose. What's worse, he tells us they were doing the same thing last Monday, the very night of the shutdown.

He added, "There was a private party upstairs with a few Congress people and senators here that night."

That observation was echoed by another manager at a different establishment who spoke on condition of anonymity.

That person said, "There were congressmen, there were lobbyists and staffers...we stayed pretty busy. They were definitely eating and passing the time before the vote."

WUSA9 even obtained an exclusive photo of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer posing for a picture with actress Selma Hayek ata gala put on by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. It was on the secondday of the shutdown.

People we spoke with say these images of members of Congress carrying on as usual and enjoying leisure time shows they are distracted from their tasks of fixing the shutdown mess that has paralyzed our government.

UPDATE:

After the initial publishing and airing of this report a spokeswoman for House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer released this statement in response to the picture shown in this report.

"Mr. Hoyer has been working hard to re-open the government and ensure federal employees receive retroactive pay for the duration of the shutdown. He briefly stopped by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Awards, which takes place once a year during Hispanic Heritage Month to recognize the important contributions of the Latino community. Mr. Hoyer briefly spoke with award recipient Selma Hayek, who was recognized for her humanitarian work around the world, including her efforts to combat domestic violence."